Moore Will Get His Sign; Is Elk Grove Devolving Into 'Animal Farm'

As an observer of Elk Grove politics for several years now, it became apparent to me during tonight's city council meeting that developer Gil Moore will get his much desired off-site billboard along Highway 99 and Sheldon Road. While the council was throwing softballs to Moore, all I could think of was George Orwell.

Let me explain.

I wasn't thinking of Orwell's 1984, rather what came to mind was Animal Farm.

For those unfamiliar with this work, Orwell's spins a fable of barn animals who revolt against the humans and seize control of the farm and rename it Animal Farm. In pretty quick fashion the ideals of the revolution become compromised when the pigs placed themselves at the top of the Animal Farm heirarchy and in essence become nothing more than four legged-replacements of what all the animals originally revolted against.

If you think about it, this applies to Elk Grove. When the people of Elk Grove "revolted" against Sacramento County, some of the battle cries were that the county was unresponsive to the needs of the community and the county allowed unbridled growth. We wanted to control our own destiny.

The solution was to revolt against the county and allow us to govern ourselves. The only problem is that save the Great Recession, growth under local control continued unabated.

As we move along, the city council is really not acting that different from the board of supervisors.

On Animal Farm, the animals created seven commandments with the seventh being "all animals are equal." When we incorporated we were led to believe that all voices would be taken into consideration and they were all equal.

In retrospect, what a quaint and silly notion.

As the pigs seized more power and moved from the barn into the farmer's house, they began to separate themselves from the other working animals. They began to enjoy power and relished in the comforts they allowed themselves.

Eventually the seventh commandment came to read "all animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others."

Much the same has happened here. For us ordinary citizens it is more like "all of us have an equal voice, but those with mega-money have more of an equal voice."

In reality we really ought not be surprised by this. For one thing under our current laws, it is all perfectly legal.

And besides, it happens everywhere and on just about every level of politics. That is reality.

Reading between the lines of the council during their deliberations there were only token objections raised against Moore's desired off-site billboard. They seemed to be saying 'we will give those concerned with visual blight and the gutting of city ordinances for the benefit of developers some lip service, but don't worry Gil, we have your back.'

For his part, Moore seems like a decent enough fellow who is more than happy to trot out his wife and children in front of the city council to make the point that his is a family business. And in fairness Moore's development makes sense at that location and the planned AM/PM and McDonald's will enjoy fat profit margins, no pun intended, from local customers even without the off-site sign.

Nonetheless, when the city council grants Moore his off-site sign, and make no mistake they will, it will just reinforce the seventh commandment - "all of us have an equal voice, but those with mega-money have more of an equal voice."